SEWARD, Neb. – For the final time this 2022-23 regular season, Concordia University Men’s Tennis went outside of conference play. The Bulldogs took four of six singles and two of three doubles matches on Wednesday (April 12) while toppling visiting Grand View University (Iowa), 5-2. The match was contested inside the Fieldhouse in order to avoid blustery conditions outdoors.
Head Coach Cam Long’s squad effectively shrugged off back-to-back losses to GPAC opponents while returning to the win column. Concordia sits at 8-7 overall.
“We had a lot of close matches at the top of the lineup, which will help us moving forward,” Long said. “We have some big matches coming up to finish out the conference schedule. We need to carry over that mentality when we go up against some of the better teams in the GPAC.”
There was the potential for Wednesday's tussle to go either way, though the Vikings put themselves in a hole with a lineup including five players. That meant a Bulldog victory at No. 2 doubles, 7-5, by Shawn Springer and Thomas Van Haaren was enough to give the home team an early advantage. Grand View triumphed at the No. 1 spot, 6-4, while faced with Hugo Fuentes and Juan Rabellino. Credit for the doubles win at No. 3 went to Luke Johnson and Manuel Rodriguez.
Three of the first four singles matches to go final went in favor of Concordia, sewing up the team win. At the No. 4 spot, Rodriguez outlasted Abbot Haner, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8), after dropping the first set. Soon after, Santiago Abadia won at No. 2, 6-4, 7-5, to tack on the Bulldogs’ fourth team point. Other singles wins were captured by Van Haaren at No. 5, 6-0, 6-1, and by Johnson at No. 6 (forfeit). Some of the most compelling action took place at No. 1 with a highly-competitive battle between Concordia’s Fuentes and Grand View’s Igor Theodorakopoulos. It ultimately went Theodorakopoulos’ way, 7-6 (17-15), 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (8-6). Meanwhile, Eduardo Rojas played at No. 3 for the Bulldogs.
Grand View slipped to 1-7 overall having also been defeated by GPAC foes Midland and Morningside. The Vikings went 3-9 during the 2021-22 season.
A GPAC doubleheader (men and women) will take place on Thursday inside the Walz Fieldhouse as the Bulldogs will host Mount Marty. The men’s match is set to get underway at 1 p.m. CT with the women to follow. The Lancers sport records of 1-9 (0-4 GPAC) on the men’s side and 0-7 (0-3 GPAC) on the women’s side. In between the two matches on Thursday, Concordia will honor its seniors.